The Morning’s Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

1. Beyoncé threw on a form-fitting red dress and made her first post-pregnancy public appearance last night at Carnegie Hall, where Jay-Z was performing for the first time. [via Daily News]

2. Alcon Entertainment’s Andrew Kosove is “adamantly denying” rumors that Harrison Ford is in talks to join the cast of the Blade Runner sequel. “To be clear, what we are trying to do with Ridley [Scott] now is go through the painstaking process of trying to break the back of the story, figure out the direction we’re going to take the movie and find a writer to work on it,” he says. “The casting of the movie could not be further from our minds at this moment.” [via Slashfilm]

3. “I am certainly not politically affiliated with Mr. Obama. It was meant to be a message about, just about job growth and the spirit of America. I think all politicians will agree with it. I thought the spirit was OK.” — Clint Eastwoodresponds to the controversy surrounding his Super Bowl ad.

4. Due to time constraints, it sounds like neither one of the two nominees in the Best Original Song category will be performed at this year’s Oscars. We’re curious: What does the Academy have against a domesticated macaw and the Muppets? [via Deadline]

5. Theater columnist Michael Riedel was OK with being referred to as “a Napoleonic little Nazi who writes for the Post” in last night’s premiere episode of Smash. “Well, of course I was flattered to be mentioned,” he tells Vulture. “But to be perfectly arrogant about it, I don’t think you can do a TV show about the Broadway world without including a powerful and notorious Broadway gossip columnist. And who better to play that role than moi?”